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Visiting fans at the Banks's Stadium gave strong backing to O'Neill, who was condemned by his skipper in a no-holds barred attack last month.

Just two months ago, the midfielder was part of a squad that brought European football back to Villa after a six-year absence.

But instead of that acting as a springboard, Barry decided he fancied the challenge of the Champions League at Liverpool, one that Rafa Benitez has not yet been unable to provide.

Wayne Routledge of Aston Villa battles for the ball with Sofiene Zaaboub of Walsall

Last season's Villa club captain is still desperate for the move to go through, but it has stalled with Benitez unable to meet Villa's £18million asking price.

However, the channels of communication remain open between Villa owner Randy Lerner and Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry.

And there was a feeling last night that O'Neill was putting the 27-year-old on view to make him suffer before finally allowing the move to go ahead. The abuse tailed off throughout the evening, to be replaced by moments of dark humour in the Black Country.

Fans of League One side Walsall responded to the anger in the away enclosure by singing 'Sign him up'. Barry's miserable evening got worse four minutes before the interval when Alex Nicholls took advantage of a mix-up between goalkeeper Elliott Parish and Nathan Baker to give Walsall the lead.

The midfielder was substituted after an hour and, moments later, Shaun Maloney levelled for Villa from a free-kick. Patrick Suffo restored Walsall's lead but Maloney's second goal and a Wayne Routledge volley gave Villa a 3-2 win.